Amagi Brilliant Park: Volume 1

by Shouji Gatou

  ...Got it. Seiya packed up his kit, and then pulled out the wiring diagram and flashlight he’d brought along. The substrate of the distribution boards in the back of the room should be old and worn. It shouldn’t take much meddling to start a fire...

  But, just before he entered the room, he felt a hard strike from Moffle’s paw against the back of the head, and he toppled over. “Kanie Seiya. I just can’t let you do this, fumo.”

  “Ngh...” Seiya groaned. You damned idiot, he thought. Are you just going to abandon her, then? He tried to shout, but his voice wouldn’t come out. His arms and legs were tingling, but he couldn’t move them.

  “Let me tell you one thing, fumo,” Moffle said. “Latifah’s curse doesn’t just make her weaker. It’s something far worse than that, fumo.”

  A worse curse than that? But what on earth could it—

  “It resets her physical development and memories every year, fumo. She’s been 14 years old for over ten years now,” Moffle explained. “Every spring, she loses all memory of the previous year, fumo. So no matter what you do, she’s going to forget about you soon.”

  Ah... Seiya realized. So that was why the Latifah he remembered from his childhood looked the same as the one from now...

  Moffle let out a sigh. “I thought that even if the park closed, I could take Latifah with me and eke out a living as a street performer,” he confessed. “Maybe we wouldn’t have lasted long, but... it seemed to me, maybe that’s fate, fumo.”

  Seiya said nothing, and waited for Moffle to finish his thoughts.

  “But, I’ve changed my mind. To fade away gracefully is all well and good... but a little ungainly struggling isn’t the worst thing in the world. Before, you asked me... wasn’t there more I could have done before things came to this? You were right. Right on the money. I should have... we should have done something, fumo.”

  Moffle picked up Seiya’s tools and the blueprints. “Kanie Seiya. It’s wrong to make you pay our debts for us, fumo. So if ‘dirty tricks are what we need right now’... then I ought to be the one doing them.”

  Moffle headed for the back of the electric room.

  The work wasn’t anything too difficult. You just had to follow the marks he’d made on the diagram, contacting the batteries linked by the series to cause an overload. Then, the dusty circuit’s vinyl would start to burn, and the damage would quickly spread. Sparks began to fly in the back of the room, and a foul burning smell reached Seiya’s nose.

  “All right. Let’s make a break for it, fumo.” Moffle hefted the immobilized Seiya onto his shoulder, then took off with surprising swiftness.

  ●

  The cast, having ignored the command to go home, were still celebrating in the dining hall. None of them noticed Seiya and Moffle—the partners in crime—talking in the dark hallway.

  “The idea of resorting to dirty tricks... I’d been afraid it would cast a pall over my art, fumo,” Moffle confessed.

  “Well... that’s understandable,” Seiya said, sympathizing.

  “But what’s done is done, fumo. I’ll just have to keep doing my best,” Moffle said, then gave a finalizing shrug. “Well, will today be the end of it, fumo?”

  He was referring to Seiya’s time as acting manager. Seiya’s absence wouldn’t affect tomorrow’s attendance at all; his work here was done.

  “Good question,” Seiya mused. “Maybe I’ll spend tomorrow in my room working through my game backlog... No, no. I’ve come this far; I should at least be here for the end.”

  “Right,” Moffle agreed neutrally. “I’m sure they’ll all be happy to see you, fumo.”

  Seiya found himself wincing. “Well, good work today.”

  “Moffu. Thank you, Seiya.”

  They waved to each other, avoiding each other’s eyes, and then went their separate ways.

  [Today’s park attendance: 53,449. (5,688 from goal) / 1 day left.]

  The next day was Sunday, and Seiya slept until noon.

  His Aunt Aisu was up then, for once, so they ate some pasta and spaced out, watching golf on TV. Seiya had thought about playing some video games, but he just couldn’t muster the enthusiasm for it.

  The weather outside was clear. It was still a bit chilly, given the time of year, but the sunlight was warm.

  Around the time that the evening ‘classic family anime’ aired, Seiya was getting ready to head out. Aisu, munching on a rice cracker, asked him, “Where are you going at this hour?”

  “Work,” he told her shortly.

  “Ahh,” his aunt responded, showing no further sign of interest.

  He wasn’t sure if he’d be able to catch a bus back or not, so he decided to ride his bike there; it only took him about 30 minutes. He passed through the employee entrance and greeted the now familiar face of the security guard. “How’s attendance?”

  “It’s great,” the security guard told him. “Looks to be higher than last week, I’d say.”

  Seiya was relieved to hear that. He’d had a nagging fear that they’d make some kind of mistake that would tank their attendance.

  He wandered around backstage, waving to the various cast members who called to him, smiling. It’s been a strange two weeks, hasn’t it? he reflected. We hated each other so much before, but look at us now...

  Seiya had never fit in at school. But now, after much trial and tribulation, he felt, for the first time, that he’d found a place where he could feel at home.

  Closing time would come shortly. The day’s attendance was an incredible 12,430, breaking 10,000 for the second day in a row. Once all the guests were gone, the news was broadcast over the park’s internal speakers. All the employees clapped their hands and cheered.

  Cast members whose names Seiya didn’t even know, but who happened to be standing nearby, asked him for handshakes. He obliged, and told them “great work,” with an awkward smile.

  Mission officially accomplished, he thought later, as he walked alone down the underground hallway. Just then, the sound of theatrical applause rang out behind him. Clap, clap, clap, came the empty, hollow sound.

  “Well, well. Excellent work.” Seiya turned to see Kurisu Takaya of Amagi Development standing in the hallway; he must have come to confirm the final day’s attendance for himself. There was a visitor’s ID hanging from his neck.

  “I can’t believe you really brought in 100,000 people,” Kurisu remarked. “I’m shocked.”

  “...Why are you talking to me about it?” Seiya asked him suspiciously. “You should be talking to whomever put the hard work in.”

  “Oh, please.” Kurisu smiled. “You might as well drop the act. The hard work was all yours, wasn’t it? Kanie Seiya-kun... Or should I say... the acting manager chosen by the revelation?”

  “......!” It was impossible for Seiya to hide his shock.

  He wasn’t especially surprised that Kurisu knew he was the acting manager; if he had an informant in the park, he surely would have heard about it. But to know about the revelation...

  Seeming to derive pleasure from Seiya’s reaction, Kurisu spoke up again. “You’ve successfully extended the park’s lifespan by one year. But that’s about all you’ve done... You can’t keep the discount campaign going for a whole year. All you’ve done is given a dying patient a shot of adrenaline.”

  “...What are you getting at?” Seiya asked him flatly.

  “The park will meet its fate eventually, one way or another,” Kurisu said scornfully. “And the cursed princess, to whom you’re so attached, will die a dog’s death.”

  He knows about Latifah’s curse? Seiya wondered to himself. Why? Who the hell is this man—

  “Who are you?” he asked out loud. Seiya argued with himself until the very last second over whether to use his mind-reading magic. But no, this wasn’t the time yet—using it now would be the wrong choice, his logical mind insisted.

  “Oh?” Kurisu mocked him. “Not going to use your magic, hmm? You have impressive self-control.”

  Sei
ya barely stopped himself from letting out a groan. What’s going on here? He knows about my magic!

  The man laughed. “If you know about her curse, then you can surely imagine... ‘The evil magician, cornered by the noble general, threw himself off a cliff...’ But nobody ever said that the magician was dead.”

  “Are you saying...” Seiya began to ask.

  Kurisu smiled. It was a cunning, wicked smile. “...To be honest, I’d been hoping to deliver the finishing blow this year,” he confessed. “But now, I’ve changed my mind. I won’t tell anyone about the stadium incident. For now, I’d like to sit back, watch and observe... how far can this rotten amusement park go with another year?”

  “This is crazy! She hasn’t done anything wrong! You just—” Seiya shouted angrily, reaching out to grab Kurisu by the lapels. As he did, the image of the man in the suit blurred.

  “If it makes you this angry, why not stay with it?” The air around them warped, and in the ceiling, lights flickered. “Unsightly decline and collapse,” his voice intoned in a low roar. “The irreversible flow of the era in which we live. You can attempt to defy them if you wish... but the ager which you’re protecting is fated to wither and die—and I wish to watch it happen.”

  The thing that flickered before his eyes, now, was not some company administrator. It was something else, grinning and mocking him—and them.

  “Kanie-kun, stand back,” a familiar voice commanded him.

  “Sento?” he asked, completely bewildered.

  At some point, Isuzu had arrived. She pushed Seiya out of the way and took aim with her gun. She fired, and there was a blinding flash. When it had faded, Kurisu Takaya was gone without a trace.

  “Ugh...” Seiya looked around, rubbing his throbbing head.

  They were alone now, but Isuzu kept her musket at the ready, her senses on high alert. “...He got away,” she lamented.

  “Who the hell was that guy?” Seiya wondered out loud.

  “At the very least, he doesn’t appear to be a mortal,” Isuzu mused thoughtfully.

  She must have also called for backup, because Moffle arrived a little bit later, knocking over trash cans and raging. “So it was him!” the mascot fumed. “Dammit! Next time, I’ll kill him, fumo!”

  Several hours later, Seiya was talking to Latifah in the rooftop garden. “I’m going to stick with it,” he told her.

  She tilted her head in incomprehension. “...May I ask what you mean?”

  “The acting manager position,” he explained. “I’m going to stick with it through next year. And, actually... I think I’ll hang around until the problem is solved.”

  She probably had her curse explained to her every year, because she seemed to have realized what that meant. “Kanie-sama...”

  “Don’t look at me like that,” he told her. “It’s because I made a promise.”

  “A... promise?” she asked, her voice uncertain.

  “Yeah. I hope you remember someday.” A lonely smile appeared on Seiya’s face.

  [Today’s park attendance: 12,430. (6,742 over goal) / Term complete.]

  Epilogue

  It was the first day of April, and it really felt like spring.

  It was morning, just before the park opened. After announcing a few general policy directives for the new year, Seiya gave more detailed explanations to the various department heads about their upcoming direction. Then, he headed to the rooftop garden.

  Latifah was waiting there as usual.

  No... not “as usual,” he reminded himself; to her, this would be their first meeting.

  “It is a pleasure to meet you. Ah... Kanie Seiya-sama,” she greeted him awkwardly.

  “Yeah. A pleasure to meet you,” Seiya said, although his smile was strained.

  “I have heard a great deal about you,” she continued. “I am told that last year, you saved the park from a truly desperate situation.”

  She doesn’t remember it anymore, he realized with regret. The last few weeks, her telling me about the revelation and kissing me, the promise I made to her all those years ago... It’s all been reset.

  Her manner, too, while not exactly cold, was reticent.

  “I’m not any kind of savior, but... I’ll do what I can,” Seiya said. “I look forward to working with you.” A feeling of indescribable sadness whispered through him.

  “Yes, I feel the same way,” she told him with a polite smile.

  After leaving the garden behind, Seiya was heading for his office, in the general affairs building, when he spotted a commotion in the PR department office. It was Isuzu, Moffle, Macaron, and Tiramii, and murder seemed to hang in the air.

  “What’s going on here?” he wanted to know.

  “Ahh... Kanie-kun,” Isuzu greeted him. “We’ve been discussing cast profiles for the park’s official website.”

  “And..?” he said, pressing for more information.

  “We’re encountered a variety of problems,” she explained. “Moffle’s ‘favorite food’ entry, for instance—he won’t offer anything except croquettes.”

  Moffle let out a snort. “Well, it’s the truth, fumo. Croquettes are the best. My favorites lately are the snack croquettes sold at a place called ‘Saigo-tei’ in Komazawa and Nakano.”

  “But you’re the Fairy of Sweets, aren’t you?” Isuzu demanded. “Besides, there’s already a mascot character in a famous manga who loves croquettes. It’s been done.”

  “Rrgh...” Moffle groaned. “Then make it dorayaki, fumo.”

  “That’s also been done,” she pointed out. “It’s the favorite food of a character well known to everyone in Japan.”

  “Grrr...”

  “Then there’s Tiramii,” Isuzu moved on. “For ‘dislikes,’ you put ‘mice.’ That’s unacceptable. It’s extremely famous as the ‘dislike’ of the character I mentioned before.”

  “B-But I really don’t like them, mii!” Tiramie bleated in protest. “I was at this run-down pub in Shimo-kitazawa when I ran into this brown rat as big as a cat! It was traumatic, mii!” Tiramii’s whole body floofed up in fear. Moffle gave him a sideways glance, but he ignored it.

  “Nevertheless, mice are off the table,” Isuzu said dismissively. “It’s been done.”

  “Ugh...”

  “Also, Macaron,” she said, coming to the last of her victims. “Under ‘special skills’ you put ‘building Gundam models.’ But, surely you jest?”

  Macaron puffed up in annoyance. “B-But I am good at that, ron! I can build a Master Grade without instructions! I’ve even got Ebikawa Kanetake’s autograph, ron!”

  “There’s another character who’s famous for building Gundam models,” Isuzu told him pointedly. “You know, Sergeant such-and-such. It’s been done. Request denied.”

  “Oh, come on...”

  Seiya, watching passively, managed to intuit what the issue was. But as Isuzu seemed to have things well in hand, he could probably afford to stay out of it.

  Just then, the three mascots united in protest.

  “You’re just mean, mii! All you say is ‘it’s been done, it’s been done!’”

  “Yeah! These things are what make us who we are, fumo.”

  “If anything’s ‘been done’ around here, it’s that weapon of yours, ron!”

  “I...” Isuzu flinched at his accusation.

  “That’s right, mii!” Tiramii accused scornfully. “A musket? Please! Give us a break!”

  “Moffu,” Moffle agreed. “It’s right out of that recent hit ‘magical girl’ show...”

  “Yeah, yeah! That masterpiece!” Macaron enthused. “I have the whole series on blu-ray, ron!”

  They chorused in unison, “It’s been done!”

  “...Ngh.” Isuzu lowered her eyes, shoulders trembling, but the three kept at her:

  “The three of us at least can hide it, fumo. But muskets, you know...”

  “As a major visual element? Pretty pathetic, ron...”

  “It’s like a failed pinup idol tryin
g to rack up hits by cosplaying a character she barely knows, mii.”

  “Easy there, Sento...” Seiya cautioned. “You guys knock it off too.”

  But it was too late for Seiya to stop it. Tears forming at the corners of her eyes, Isuzu pulled out the weapon in question. “Then I’ll show you the power of this ‘been done’ weapon!” she shouted.

  “Stop i—” he started to protest. She fired.

  Macaron got hit by a “pain of stubbing your little toe on the dresser” bullet, and fell to the floor in agony. Horrified, Moffle and Tiramii tried to flee, but Isuzu kept firing relentlessly. Tricen, who was just passing by, got hit by a stray shot. Tiramii used Seiya as a shield, but Isuzu kept firing...

  Maybe I should have jumped ship after two weeks after all... Seiya thought to himself in exasperation. A whole year with these people? It was ridiculous!

  Seiya threw himself prostrate on the floor, as the office became a war zone, already regretting what he had taken on.

  -The End-

  Afterword

  This all started a little over five years ago.

  I’ve never had any particular attachment to amusement parks, but I went to a famous theme park as part of a social outing. As I was watching a family playing around with the mascots, an idea struck me: Wouldn’t it be funny if that duck character hated kids? What if they really hated children, but since it’s their job, they just have to spend the day grinning and bearing it? Then, at the end of their shift, they go unwind at some local pub or something...

  The moment the idea entered my mind, I started to feel a strange affinity for that duck character. Even when I just caught a glimpse of him on TV commercials, I thought “Ah, I bet he’s having a rough time, too.”

  For a grown man like me, who prefers more edgy entertainments, a family-oriented theme park can seem really boring. That’s always when I get my most mean-spirited ideas. Thinking back, I used to fantasize about things like “What if a terrorist suddenly took over the school?!” as a method of escaping from reality. But there are good ideas lurking in that escapism.